Meaning & readings

business, vocation, arts, performance

On’yomi ギョウ、ゴウ
Kun’yomi わざ
Nanori なり、のぶ

Origin

This character appears to depict a wooden frame or stand used in ancient China, possibly for hanging or displaying things — the vertical strokes form the frame, with the crossbar representing a horizontal support. Over time, the meaning expanded from the physical object to represent work, crafts, and tasks performed using such frames and tools. Eventually it came to mean any kind of work, business, or skilled performance. The native Japanese reading "waza" (meaning technique or art) reflects this connection to skilled work and craftsmanship.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.

13 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (業).

  • meaning part

Common words

  • 偉業 いぎょう great achievement; great feat
  • 営業 えいぎょう business; trade
  • 家業 かぎょう family business; family trade
  • 稼業 かぎょう trade; business
  • 開業 かいぎょう opening a business; opening a practice
  • 学業 がくぎょう studies; schoolwork
  • 勧業 かんぎょう (encouragement of) industry
  • 企業 きぎょう enterprise; business

Reference

Strokes
13
Kangxi radical
75
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#43 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+0696D